IDF dismisses officer for ‘professional failures’ over death of 15 rescue workers in Gaza

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday (April 20) dismissed the deputy commander of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit over the killing of 15 rescue workers in Gaza’s Rafah on March 23. This comes after an Israeli probe found “professional failures” in the incident where the Israeli forces opened fire on a convoy of ambulances and emergency vehicles.

The probe found that the deputy commander mistakenly believed the convoy belonged to Hamas militants due to “poor night visibility”.

A video footage of the incident showed other ambulances, which had their lights flashing and logo visible, pulling up to help another ambulance which was earlier caught in the gunfire.

According to media reports, eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers and a UN staffer were killed in the tragic shooting incident. The IDF troops then reportedly bulldozed the bodies and buried them in a mass grave, which was discovered by UN workers only a week ago.

In its investigation, the Israeli military found that the incident happened due to an “operational misunderstanding” by the forces. Another incident which happened just few minutes later and involved Israeli soldiers open fire at a UN vehicle was also in breach of the orders, the investigation found.

The military said the commander of the brigade was also being removed for his “partial and inaccurate” report of the incident during a preliminary investigation.

The IDF added that the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade — the unit leading the operation in Rafah when the killing of the medics took place — was also being formally censured for his “overall responsibility for the incident.”

Notably, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav Har-Even, head of the General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, found in his investigation that there were no violations of the IDF Code of Ethics in the incident but he identified several “professional errors” which undermined the military protocol.

The IDF saids it “expresses regret for harming uninvolved [civilians],” and said the investigation was intended to prevent such incidents from recurring.

“The existing guidelines on the special caution required with regard to rescue forces and medical workers, even in areas of intense combat, were sharpened and clarified,” the military added.

(With inputs from agencies)